Seattle Police Department officers show off their new body-worn cameras and accompanying new uniforms Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014, at City Hall in downtown Seattle, Washington. (Jordan Stead, seattlepi.com)

Seattle Police Department officers show off their new body-worn cameras and accompanying new uniforms Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014, at City Hall in downtown Seattle, Washington. (Jordan Stead, seattlepi.com)

Seattle Police Department officers show off their new head-and-body-worn cameras and accompanying new uniforms Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014, at City Hall in downtown Seattle, Washington. (Jordan Stead, seattlepi.com) less

Seattle Police Department officers show off their new head-and-body-worn cameras and accompanying new uniforms Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014, at City Hall in downtown Seattle, Washington. (Jordan Stead, ... more

Seattle Police Department officers show off their new head-and-body-worn cameras accompanying uniforms and the freshly-adopted Ford Police Interceptor vehicle Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014, at City Hall in downtown ... more

Mayor Ed Murray and Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole announced Thursday afternoon the launch of a pilot program for the body-worn cameras, which will only be sported by about a dozen East Precinct officers who opt into the program — for now. The testing period is expected to last about six months, starting next week.

The East Precinct includes Capitol Hill, Montlake, Madrona, the Central District and Madison Valley, among other neighborhood pockets.

Body-worn cameras have gained attention as a police accountability tool in recent months in light of the controversial police-related killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner on Staten Island, New York. Grand juries declined to seek prosecution of the involved cops in both incidents.

The Seattle Police Department has been working out the details of the pilot program for more than a year in consultation with groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and Community Police Commission. The body cams will join the dashboard cameras that the agency has used for several years.

The police department released a manual Thursday outlining the body camera pilot program policies.

According to the policy, the cameras will only be activated upon an officer’s response to 911 calls and for traffic stops, Terry stops, visible criminal activity, arrest and seizures, searches of vehicles or persons, transporting people, vehicle chases and questioning suspects or witnesses. The battery-powered cameras are to be turned off once an event or task is completed.

Officers are directed not to intentionally record lawful public activity — the policy explicitly mentions First Amendment rights — or places that warrant privacy, such as restrooms or hospitals.

Furthermore, officers must inform the people with whom they’re interacting that they’re being recorded and that state law requires consent for audio recording of private conversations. A refusal to be recorded requires an officer to switch off the camera, according to the policy.

Seattle police will test out two different camera systems. One can be worn on both eyewear and the body and films in standard definition. The other can film in either standard or high definition, but can only be worn on the body. Each camera will be tested for 90 days.

Officer Chris Myers said he is concerned about juggling use of the camera with other tasks in the course of his job, including events that require quick action, but the body camera policy calls for officers to document why they didn’t activate the camera if they fail to do so.

The pilot program cameras cost $150,000, Murray said. The city will seek federal money as the program expands.

The city also debuted the police department’s makeover. In the coming months, officers will phase in new navy blue uniforms to replace the powder blue that the force has sported for 52 years. Same goes for the fleet of patrol cars, which will also turn navy blue as new Ford Interceptors replace the Crown Victorias that are fading into obsolescence.

The new uniforms include a patch with a familiar Chief Sealth emblem as its centerpiece. Additionally, officers will wear new protective vests on the outside of their uniforms instead of beneath their shirts, which caused pain and discomfort among officers, O’Toole said.

Officers approved the new uniforms, with 68 percent voting in favor of the ones chosen.

Murray insisted he did not dictate the new look.

“I’d like to tell you (that) you get a gay mayor and he chooses new uniforms,” he quipped.

The uniforms cost $850 each — with $550 coming from each officer’s yearly uniform allowance — and the Seattle Police Foundation donated the vests.

Officers will have until March 1 to transition to the new uniforms.

With a new mayor and chief, new uniforms, new cameras and new vehicles, is this an “extreme makeover” for the Seattle Police Department?

“I hope what we’re seeing is a new day for the Seattle Police Department and a new relationship between the community and the Seattle Police Department,” Murray said, noting the policy, leadership and use-of-force changes made in the past couple of years as part of a cultural shift in the agency. “There was a backlog of changes we need to make.”